Everyone Has Limits
by xotakux2002x
Summary: no matter who you are, you have certain limits that cannot be pushed. itachi learns this the hard way. VERY old kisaita fluff, oneshot.


You need a break yet??"

Itachi turned around to look at Kisame. The two had been traveling since daybreak, and it was way past noon. They had yet to come into contact with any enemies; mostly they had just walked along various roads, which was why the question came as kind of a surprise to Itachi.

"No. I'm fine. Do you?"

Kisame wasn't surprised; it seemed like Itachi never needed to take a break. They only stopped when Kisame was tired or hungry, and he was always awake when Kisame fell asleep and woke up.  
_"Does he EVER wear down?" _No matter how many times Kisame ask this question, he couldn't find an answer.

"Not really, but there's a tea shop up here, and it's nearly lunchtime. It wouldn't kill us to grab a bite, and, well…"

Itachi had now come to a complete stop. "Well, what?"

Kisame looked away. "Well, I know that you didn't sleep last night, and we were walking all day yesterday, so, I thought maybe you'd need a break, and-"

Itachi had already turned around and continued walking. "Fine."

Kisame sighed._ "Dammit Itachi, can't you just admit you need to rest?"_

After a short meal of sandwiches and tea, the two were back on the road. Itachi wasn't much for conversation, so Kisame was left alone to his thoughts. Why were they out here? Some random mission, maybe to get a scroll, or kidnap someone, he really couldn't remember. Stuff like that was left to the Uchiha, he just followed his orders and killed anyone in his way. A simple way of life.

As the shark man pondered his thoughts (or lack thereof) Itachi was already planning what they were going to do. If they continued at this pace, they'd reach the enemy in about half an hour. The mission was simple enough; kill off a lord who had ticked off the Leader one too many times. His castle would probably be well guarded, so he'd take out the head guards, Kisame would move in, and (insert overly complicated plan here)…

------------------------------------------------------2 days later---------------------------------------------------------------

"Are they still behind us?"

"Yeah."

"DAMN!!"

This brief conversation was halted by several kunai knives thrown in their direction. They had infiltrated the castle, only to find about two hundred guards inside. Ok, so a lot of them were just particularly skilled chunin with a few jounin mixed in, but that really doesn't matter when you're outnumbered one hundred to one. Apparently the lord was extremely paranoid. Apparently he was also well liked, because a lot of those ninja were still chasing the two Akatsuki members even after he was killed.

Itachi had just finished off the last one when they hit a very thickly wooded area. They took cover behind a large tree and tried to catch their breaths.

"Lousy bastards…hah...hah...remind me to kill Leader for only sending the two of us on this mission…hah..." Kisame was feeling pretty crappy by now. He hadn't slept in two days, his chakra was almost gone, and he'd been hit with fire balls, paper bombs, and at least fifty knives, to name a few ailments. "How are you?"

"Just fine."

Itachi really did look fine on the outside. His didn't even appear out of breath. Inside, however, his body was starting to fail him. He'd taken several hits, and had used his sharingan eye too long. As a result, his chakra was nearly gone, and it'd be several days before he could safely use the sharingan again. But hell would freeze over before he'd let Kisame know what kind of shape his body was in.

"We should probably get go-" Itachi's comment was cut short when he noticed Kisame had fallen asleep against the tree. He walked over and kneeled down by him, to make sure he really was asleep. Kisame's breath was slow and even, with his hand gripping his sword's hilt. He looked relaxed, peaceful… Itachi watched him for a few moments before getting back up. "Go ahead and sleep. I'll watch for any more enemies."

Itachi began debating whether or not to wake Kisame up later and then take a break himself, or just wait for the shark to wake up and then keep going. He decided on the latter. After all, most of the ninja should be dead by now, so they could wait until they got to an inn or something for him to sleep…Suddenly he grabbed the tree for support. His vision, just for a moment, had gone blurry.

_"It's fine, you're ok, you just overused your eyes"_ Itachi repeated this over and over until his vision cleared. Clearly he was at his limit. He thought about going with the make Kisame keep watch while he slept plan, but discarded the thought as quickly as it had returned. There was no way he'd tell Kisame how weak he felt right now. "_Like he'd even care"_ Itachi bitterly thought.

The rest was short, because about an hour later half a dozen jounin had caught up to them. Kisame woke up to the harsh clang of kunai-on-kunai battle, and was barely able to avoid a few thrown at him. He cursed loudly before ripping the ninja apart with his sword, and moved on to the next one…

-------------------------------------One battle and fifteen minutes later-----------------------------------------------------

"So, are we heading back to the base now?" Kisame asked.

"Yeah, with any luck we can reach it in four days."

"Sweet." Kisame grinned. After this mission, he was looking forward to a nice, long break.

Before Leader sent them on another suicide mission like this.

By now it was nearly nightfall, so they needed to find some village with a hotel, or else camp out all night. Something neither one was particularly fond of. Meaning they needed to pick up the pace.

Itachi, however, was in no shape to pick up said pace. He was having enough trouble going at his current speed. Kisame had already passed him and was several feet in front of him. To make matters worse, his vision was going again.

_"Dammit body, don't give out now"_

"You all right?" Kisame had turned around to look at him.

"Just fine" Itachi replied in monotone. _"Heh, at least my voice still works."_ He smirked at the thought.

The rest of him, however, was quickly giving out. Now, not only was his vision blurred, but the path was spinning. His body felt like lead, and he was having more and more trouble getting his legs to move. A realization came to him. His body really was giving out. _"Oh shit."_

"Ki…sa…"

Kisame turned around at the first two syllables of his name in time to see Itachi collapse face first onto the ground.

"Oh shit, ITACHI!" Kisame rushed backed and flipped Itachi over. The shark man held him in a sitting position and listened to his breathing. It was faint, and his pulse wasn't so good either.

"Dammit Itachi, why the hell did you say you were fine?" Kisame asked, picking his partner up…

--------------------------------------------Several hours later-------------------------------------------------------------  
Itachi woke up in the woods to the sound of a fire crackling and stars above his head. He turned his head toward the fire and saw Kisame looking off into the distance. He decided to try and sit up.

"Urgh.."

Kisame snapped at the sound and turned to Itachi. He was shocked to see that his partner was already trying to move.

"How long was I out?"

"Uh, a couple of hours, maybe? I'm not really sure…"

Itachi sighed, then moved to get to his feet. "Well, come on, we need to get moving."

Kisame's mouth fell open. _"Is he serious?!?!"_ "Itachi, you just freakin' collapsed on the road-"

"I know" Itachi interrupted, still trying to get onto his feet, "and that's put us several hours behind. But I'm fine. If we-"

The next thing Itachi knew, he was on the ground under a very heavy Kisame, who was sitting on him and was holding down both his hands above his head.

"WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU?!?!"

Itachi tried to keep his eyes from widening. Kisame was PISSED.

"YOU GO THREE DAYS WITHOUT SLEEP, FIGHT FOR TWO DAYS STRAIGHT, COLLAPSE ON THE ROAD, AND THEN TELL ME YOU'RE 'FINE' ?!?! EVERYONE HAS LIMITS ITACHI, EVEN YOU!!!!!"

Itachi remained calm, but his patience was running out. Why was Kisame going on about all this? He was aware of what had happened. It was his body after all, a fact he was about to point out, but was stopped by a single word.

"Why?"

Itachi saw Kisame's head droop, and felt the grip on his hands slacken.

"Why what?" Itachi was truly confused. Why he hadn't slept was obvious, as was why he fought, and why he collapsed. What was Kisame-?

"Why didn't you tell me how tired you were? Why did you wait 'til you were ready to collapse to say something to me? Do you really think that I can't protect you? Why Itachi?..."  
Kisame moved his arms around Itachi's waist as he said this, and placed his head on Itachi's chest, directly over his heart. He didn't say anything else, he just hugged Itachi.

Itachi was shocked. He didn't answer, because he knew nothing he said right then would come out sounding how he wanted. He knew he couldn't lay there forever (partially because Kisame's weight made it hard to breathe) but he was unsure of what to do. He finally sighed, and moved a hand onto Kisame's head.

"I don't think you're weak." he began "I just, haven't really…ever relied on anyone but myself………and I didn't think you'd care, even if I said something..." He was blushing profusely by now.

If Kisame was surprised by the hand on his head, he was completely amazed by the things Itachi said. Was that really it? Itachi thought he didn't care about him? He pushed himself up to a sitting position with his arms at his sides, still straddling Itachi. Now it was his turn not to know what to do. Slowly, he moved one of his hands to Itachi's cheek and began stroking it, causing Itachi to blush further.

"Of course I care," said Kisame. "You're my partner. You're probably the most important person to me. Understand?"

Itachi blinked a few times, allowing the words to sink in. Finally, he allowed a very, very small smile to creep onto his face. "Yeah."

"Good." Kisame said, smiling back. He climbed off Itachi and allowed him to sit up. He noticed, however, that Itachi winced as he sat up.

"Itachi, be honest. Can you walk right now?"

Itachi sat quietly for a few moments before answering "No."

"But you don't want to sleep out here, right?"

Itachi looked at Kisame questioningly before answering with another "No."

Kisame grinned. "Ok, then do as I say…"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh my God!!! Is she ok?!?"

Kisame felt Itachi tense as the lobby clerk confused his gender. Really, you'd think the guy would be used to it by now.

"It's no problem. We've just been walking for a while, and you know how it is when you wait to long to take a break. Do you have any rooms?"

Itachi was trying hard to resist the urge to throw himself out of a window. Kisame had carried him on his back to a hotel, the clerk had called him a woman, and Kisame was going along with it. This was getting better and better.

"Here's your key!"

"Thanks."

"Make sure she gets plenty of sleep!!"

Ok, that did it. Itachi reached down to find some shuriken to throw at the clerk.

"Don't you dare."

Itachi's hand reluctantly returned to Kisame's neck.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the got into the room, they immediately dropped their things and began to get undressed. It had been a long three days, and both of them wanted sleep. Itachi pulled off his shoes and cloak, then removed his shirt. It wasn't too hot, so he decided to keep his capris on. He quickly scrambled under the covers and was about to drift off, when something interrupted him. Namely, Kisame flipping him over to face him and wrapping his arms around the younger man.

"Kisame, what are you doing?"

Kisame grinned. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Itachi blushed. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "Just get off."

"No."

"Kisame…"

Kisame continued to grin. "I know you're too tired to do anything, Itachi."

Itachi glared up at him. "Tomorrow morning, you are dead."

"We'll see." Kisame replied. Without thinking, he gently kissed the top of Itachi's head. Itachi blinked, clearly surprised, then closed his eyes. _"To hell with it,"_ He thought, scotching closer to Kisame. Kisame, in turn, wrapped his arms tighter around Itachi's back, and intertwined their legs. Soon, he felt the younger man's breathing level out, and looked down to watch him sleep. He knew that there was no danger of Itachi waking up, and smiled as he, too, fell asleep.


End file.
